Vedder's take on "Hard Sun," and the rest of the Into the Wild soundtrack, was pretty universally acclaimed, resulting in a music video for the track and a Golden Globe and Grammy nomination for the single "Guaranteed" (he won the Globe). Vedder's score was also nominated for a Golden Globe. The success of Vedder's version of the song is arguably quite responsible for Indio's 1989 album Big Harvest being reissued.

Universal Music was also named in the lawsuit, for failing to get Peterson's permission before licensing the song. Peterson seeks all profits from the song after these "acts of infringement." Into the Wild director Sean Penn is credited with introducing "Hard Sun" to Vedder, who recruited Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker to supply vocals on the track.

A comparison of the two versions reveals very little difference between the two tracks. The opening verse and chorus are intact lyrically, but where Peterson wrote "When she comes to greet me / she is mercy at my feet / When I stay to pillage her / She just throws it back at me," Vedder sings, "When she comes to greet me / she is mercy at my feet / I see her inner charm / she just throws it back at me." Similar differences take place in the later verses, but for the most part Vedder sticks to the structure of the original.